On February 24, President Kh.Battulga visited the Constitutional Court to submit a response to an official letter from member of the court D.Solongo.

Complaints were filed to the Constitutional Court claiming that Article 26.2 of the Law on Presidential Election violated Articles 19.1 and 3.1.2 of the Constitution to bar former presidents from running in the presidential election.

In this regard, the Constitutional Court sent a request to the Office of the President for explanations and documents from the president.

The president noted in his response, “I believe that based on information received from a group of citizens who demanded that only Kh.Battulga not run in the presidential election, the Constitutional Court has initiated the dispute resolution process in clear violation of the Constitution. The Constitution must serve the public, but it must not be for one person only. The Constitutional Court has the sole right to review whether a word or phrase of a law passed by Parliament violates the Constitution. But the court does not have the right to determine what words and phrases should be in a law, and instruct Parliament.”

“The Constitution has very clear provisions and basic principles, such as equal rights before the law, non-discrimination, and the right of Mongolian citizens to vote and be elected. All this cannot be denied, and the Constitution cannot be interpreted arbitrarily. Former President P.Ochirbat was nominated three times. Such a dispute arose in the Constitutional Court, which ruled that P.Ochirbat was eligible to run and did not violate the Constitution.”

During the visit, President Kh.Battulga said, “There is a group of people who are arguing over an undisputed issue. They are working on orders. I do not think any attempt to usurp the people’s power will lead to anything good. The people who amended the Constitution are all alive today. Even the ruling party, which amended the Constitution, remains. So I do not understand why there is such a controversy.”

“There is clear evidence that the constitutional amendment made progress in ensuring that the people benefit from natural resources, and contributed to the country’s development. This should not be distorted by sectoral laws,” he added.

Noting that some citizens reported that the relevant provisions of the Law on Presidential Elections of Mongolia violated the Constitution, Head of the Constitutional Court N.Chinbat said, “Disputes are being reviewed accordingly. In this context, there is a legal opportunity to receive comments from a relevant person. We will take the next step and respond. We are also in the process of distributing your requests related to three laws to the court members. Work is underway to obtain comments from Parliament, and collect evidence on this issue.”